Six accused in $500,000 gas pump skimmer scheme across Texas

A Dallas man and five other suspects are accused of stealing more than $500,000 from customers and businesses by swiping credit card information from gas-pump skimmers across North and East Texas, Carrollton police announced Thursday.

Yoandi Emiliano Quezada Valdez, 33, has been arrested in the case and is facing charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and credit/debit card abuse. Warrants have been issued for the remaining suspects but they have not been arrested, according to a police news release.

The scheme stretched from “Dallas to Irving to Tyler and beyond,” the news release said.

The suspects, according to police, would place internal skimming devices on gas pumps to steal credit card information from customers. They also had technology to access the credit card information remotely.

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The suspects would then make fraudulent credit cards and use those cards at gas pumps, including at least one in Carrollton, to steal diesel fuel, frequently filling up large gas tanks that were hidden under the bed cover of pickup trucks, the news release said.